User Reviews

Thanks to Todd for the sample. 341 ml clear bottle with no freshness date.

Weak soap sud lace, it dissipates for the most part. The clear tawny color shows lots of bubbles rising to the top.

Little to the aroma, faint caramel malt and that is it.

Feigning a viscous crispness, odd dextrins and a lingering metallic taste from start to finish. Carbonic and harsh with the grain. This beer was hard to finish and if this beer is axed I will not miss it at all.

Very clear golden bronze colour with some particulates in suspensioin inthe bottle. Appears highly carbonated and the coarse 2-finger head quickly drops to a thin lace. The aroma is mostly of cooked veggies/corn, but there is a malt sweetness (almost caramel) and lager hop character present. The flavour is initially sharp, due to high carbonation, but sweetness (both malt and DMS) and a weak hop bitterness quickly come forward. Hiding behind these flavours is a light hop spiciness. The finish is dry and slightly sour and bitter. Carbonation is very high and makes the texture feel rough. Light body.

U Rousse has an amber coloured body with chestnut and almond-skin highlighting. There's a little glow to it. Attractive. A bulk of beige tinted white head rises quickly from the pour but settles to a mere sheet, leaving drapes of lacing just above the outside trim.

The smell has the unfortunate odor of corn adjuncts buried deep alongside the notes of brown malts and light roast. It smells of a lager that has been ever slightly roasted. There is a metallic (copper- or steel-like) scent that I can't seem to ignore. Rather off-putting.

The mouthfeel I'm on the fence about. On the one hand it has a little more body and texture than the other "U" line of beers (typical industrial lagers) but, on the other hand, it quickly dries out and leaves the palate arid. Carbonation is artificial and soda like. The texture is cloying and drinks like a macro lager; syrupy adjuncts are cloying and present on every sip.

All this cheap, overly sweet corn adjunct taste really distracts from what could otherwise be a decent flavour profile. Notes of chocolate, roasted grain, and caramelized malts be tasted ever so slightly. Overall, however, this is more bloating than it is pleasurable.

U Rousse isn't revolting but it's nothing I'd ever recommend. It's weird to find such a poorly made offering from a brewery that was once known only for some of the world's greatest Belgian renditions and whose portfolio is otherwise world-class.

Bleh. The only redeeming quality of this beer and its lighter cousin 'U' is the cool emblazoned Unibroue logo on the bottle. And this is completely undone by the clear bottle -- why would they do this?

Smell -- yuck. Skunky, and even with the clear bottle, I don't think this beer had gone bad. Just an unpleasant smell. Getting past the skunk, a little bit of hops, hay, and sour apples. But still -- yuck.

Taste redeems the smell a little but. Citrus, apples, malt, hay, fairly sweet. The smell is actually misleading, as the taste is pretty average and not skunky at all. Just plug your nose if you have to drink it. Mouthfeel is thin and a bit watery, but not terrible. Lower carbonation than U, which is good.

Thanks to Milady for lugging home a 12 pack of these from a grocery store in Gatineau, it was a long way on the train. This Unibroue product is dedicated to the gargoyles of Notre Dame de Paris, Old Montreal and Old Quebec and features a gargoyle on its label. I'm not sure how adept gargoyles are at making beer, or if they even appreciate one, so I'm curious to see how this measures.up.

Poured a russet hue, later resembled an ice tea colour. Modest head quickly flattened out with a good ring, active carbonation, some lacing. Aroma not very pronounced but feint hints of cranberry or dried fruit were detected. Taste is bitter, fruit zest but mild at that; effervescent mouthfeel with a touch of spritz and the odd flash of sour. Not a lot of body - a bit thin - finish was grainy with a malt aftertaste.

This beer, while certainly not offfensive, lacks a real well defined character; its a bit of this and a bit of that, and I think that's the problem with it. It's worth a try but doesn't go down as a particularly memorable beer in any event.

Not available in Alberta, thought I'd try it while I had a chance in la Belle Province...

This beer pours a clear golden copper hue, with a tiny bit of thin white head, that disappears in a flash, leaving no lace to speak of. It smells of lightly skunky roasted caramel malt. The taste light roasted malt, some acrid adjunct tinge, and herbal, skunky hops. The carbonation is quite high, the body light but a bit oily, and it finishes off-dry, with some strained veggie essence doing the dingleberry thing...

What we have here folks, is a more fizzy version of good ol' Rickard's Red. Why the good folks at Unibroue felt they needed to go down this road, can only be explained by marketing pie charts and the like. A pity.

This is not a particularly good beer. I had it on tap at my hotel in Montreal. It poured sort of a copper color, with little head retention. The taste is not very strong. It is a littbe but sweet with a slight malty taste pushing through. It is not unlike Killian's or a beer like that, with little taste, but not an offensive taste either. It's best attribute is that is a thirst-quencher.

Pours a deep red with almost no head or carbonation. Nose is very fruity mixed with that beery scent. Flavor is sweetened fruit, very lightly hopped. Overall the this is pretty thin and watery. Overall, a disappointment from Unibroue. Thanks to dherling for the bottle.

Deep amber in colour, a little murky, thin crown, average carbonation, medium/full body and the aroma is first to the skunk and then of straw.
The taste is of the malts front to back, foremost of corn then a grainy mash mixture to end.
The sweetness stays with you far to long but I may be biased as I am (and always will be) a hop head.
Not up to the Unibroue name.

Thanks to jmalex for the opportunity to try something from a different market.

This one pours a brownish-amber and its head falls to a few bubbles in no time. The color has a suspicious fruity quality to it. (btw, this is exactly how my review for Miel began, which has me a bit suspicious).

The interwebs tell me “rousse” is French for “red” of “bitter.” It reminds a bit of something cheap and red like Killian’s. . There’s a dry, musky bread with a faint apple juice behind it. But overall, there’s a sour grain that suggests low quality.

This one too tastes of cheap, sour grains with a touch of toast. A dry ho nestles on this one too, but it only seems to amplify the pungent, sour grain. It reminds me of a smoker who tries chewing gum, which doesn’t hide the smell at all, but instead accents it.

Bad-ass custom 341ml clear bottle with twist-off cap -- the packaging is very attractive. Pours a clear, bright, light copper / amber brew with moderate carbonation that leads to a beige foam head, which eventually settles to a wisp with no retention -- near flat.

Slight sulfur, caramel malts, tea and gentle metallic in the nose.

A light bitterness begins the experience by splashing some citric, salty and bicarbonate notes about, it drops off into a grainy mouthfeel with a very bland adjunct-like character. Metallic notes. Hints of sweetness and a faint toasty flavor towards the finish, which consists of more semi-coarse grain, drying of the palate and an overall lackluster finale that coats the palate and outstays its welcome.

I expected so much more, but I can see the market that they are trying to appeal to. That said, I would have thought that Unibroue would not try to be a Sleemans and brew a world-class lager vs. a mediocre one. Still ... it's better than most basic lagers that are being made, fairly easy to drink and somewhat quenching.

Strange appearance overall, kind of a chill hazed iced tea color. Very nice head, 1/2 an inch on a medium hard pour. Good lace. Like U, a nutty aroma, slightly more pronounced and walnut-like with toasted oat tones. The flavor is very similar to U as well, malt-accented with slightly more caramel and butteriness than straight brown sugar. Hopping is minimal, white pepper in nuances. Since this beer is largely a repeat of U in many respects, it doesn't really rate as high in my book. Both are easy drinkers. Thanks to PatandDavid for this beer.

Pretty average. I used my Bitburger glass with this one, pour looked like a twice dunked tea bag. Head was all in my face to start, but has wimped out and left a little bit floating on top. Aroma...trying to figure it out...smells like dried sweet malt with some ball bearings thrown in. Mouthfeel is medium, slightly under-carbonated (for my tastes), so there's some syrupy quality present. Taste is also a bit flat, with some bitterness covering up that sweet malt again. I did have some initial metallic notes with those first sips as well. I like lagers in general, but this one made me think: Unibroue, don't bother.

The head is medium-sized, slightly cream-colored, coarse and noisy. The beer is a straight, clear amber. Nose is schpoonque and peanuts. There's a tart, citrus zing in the front and a tangy middle. There's some maltiness in there, but not much. When cold, the finish is metallic and a little astringent. As it warms, there's some ok bitterness and nuttiness.

Overall, this is a pretty boring attempt at an amber lager. Unibroue should stick to Belgians.

A bottle brought back to me from Montreal by my excellent upstairs neighbors Sabrina and Joel.
The beer pours a medium amber color, perfectly clear, but really nothing out of the ordinary. A modest head forms on the pour, settling out quickly into a patchy mist, and disappearing completely about 1/3 of the way through.
The aroma is more or less hops. A bit of pils malt, grass, soapy and a bit skunky, I have no idea why they'd put this in a clear bottle. The canadian six pack carriers seem to cover the beer entirely, but beware if you get a loose bottle from a cooler.
The flavor opens with a mild dunkel/amber lager taste. Mainly pils malt, cracker-like, with a touch of caramel sweetness. Very clean. A bit of grassy flavors into the middle, carrying dorectly into a moderately hopped finish. Floral and soapy bitterness, with a mild, unappetizing skunky flavor. The finish is rather dry, leaving off with a dull crackery malt flavor, tinted with floral hops. Lightish body, with a crispy dry mouthfeel. Crackling carbonation. Somewhat thin and papery feeling.
Lose the clear bottle, and this could be a great everyday beer. Mild enough to have more than a couple, with enough flavor to keep me satisfied. Aside from the skunkiness, it was nice. Simple and easy going.

more balanced and better hops than U at a small price premium that is well worth it. Slightly more pleasing color than U but in same bottle. Lowest on Unibroue's quality scale is still better than any national brand. However distracts from their upper scale Belgium focus notables.

My father-in-law picked up a six pack of this brew on a recent trip Quebec. I read the reviews of this beer and I am surprised it got such low marks. It's certainly not the best ale I have ever tasted, but In this reviewer's opinion it is in the "C" range. Like other reviewers, I did not like the screwcap. As for the taste, I won't waste your time with a begnign list of responses from the palate. I conclude by stating the follwing: "If given the choice between a Bud or U Rousse...I'll go for the U Rousse.

Bottle  Poured a light amber colored beer with a nice standard head with standard retention. Aroma is sweet with some nice malt easily detectable. Taste is very sweet, light and quite refreshing. This is not your usual Belgian Ale from Unibroue but more of a summer beer to drink on the patio.

A: Dark copper red color. Head died down at about the speed of any macro beer and left no real lacing.

S: A little bit of caramel malts. There's an off kind of "funk" in the smell as well.

T: Very slight caramel malts. The taste is pretty watery though to be honest. Hops are not evident and the beer takes on a pretty sweet flavor.

M: Very thin body but finishes crisp enough I suppose. Dry finish which I do like in a session beer.

O: A pretty bland beer but better than most of your average macros. Can't even begin to hold a candle to some of Unibroues other beers but its acceptable. It would be a great beer for a session drinker but not something I'd like to sit down and enjoy one or two of. Better than most Macros but that's really not saying much.